39,082 days later, Lillian turns 107
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Lillian Greenman of Janesville will turn 107 on January 14.
JANESVILLE — Lillian Greenman hardly could sleep Saturday night.
On Sunday, she was celebrating her birthday with her family.
It's not surprising Greenman was so excited—107 is a pretty big milestone in anyone's life.
"I was thinking about all the things that were going to happen today," Greenman said on Sunday in the living room of Liberty Hall at Mercy Assisted Living in Janesville.
Along with her family birthday celebration, another party is being held for friends and the public at 1:30 p.m. Monday at Mercy Assisted Living.
Greenman was born Jan. 14, 1901. She has two children, four great-grandchildren, one great-great-grandchild and a wonderful collection of stories.
As a child, she lived in a stone farmhouse on Stone Farm Road near Edgerton. It was a great place—except for the lady in the cistern.
"The man who lived there before us had run off," Greenman recalled. "The neighbors said they had heard the two of them fighting."
Eventually, the neighbors found the woman's body in the cistern.
"Imagine, we had been washing with that water," Greenman said.
And then there was whooping cough and a tornado, too.
"I had whooping cough, and my mother was taking me to Janesville to see the doctor in the buggy," Greenman said.
When the wind and rain started up, she and her mother stopped in a kind of underpass. The water had risen up to the horse's underbelly before they were able to go on.
"Dad was awful glad to seen us when we got home," Greenman said.
Another time, the horse bolted, and her sister was thrown from the buggy.
Greenman tells her stories with a good-natured air and plenty of funny asides, as though tornados, illness and even broken noses all were part of life's great pageant.
She attended Cox School at the "Four Corners," describing herself as a "fair" student.
On the playground, she always was the pitcher in ball games. Once, she got smacked in the nose with the bat.
"The teacher couldn't leave school, so I sat there getting black and blue," Greenman said with a slight grin.
As a young woman, she spent two years at Whitewater Normal School, studying to become a teacher. She was in a sorority, attended plenty of dances, but didn't care much for teaching.
"I taught arithmetic and spelling to second-graders," Greenman said. "They were little devils."
That was enough of that.
She went to work at Parker Pen and met her future husband, George, at a dance. They were married in 1926, and they celebrated 56 years together before he died at 85 years old.
So what's the secret for long life? What advice could she give the rest of us?
She confessed that she really didn't know. A frown creased her face momentarily.
Then after a thoughtful pause she spoke up.
"I was always a happy person. I have a wonderful family," Greenman said, her smile spreading across her face in gentle waves.
Jan 15, 2008 at 1:56 p.m.
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Happy Birthday Lillian.
Jan 15, 2008 at 9:28 a.m.
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well said, gazettefan :) Looking at Lillian's picture, she looks great too! Like Seabee said, it's amazing how some pass on decades before others. It's also amazing that at 107, she looks better than some 80 year olds!
Jan 15, 2008 at 9:11 a.m.
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From the story:
"Greenman tells her stories with a good-natured air and plenty of funny asides, as though tornados, illness and even broken noses all were part of life's great pageant."
Jan 15, 2008 at 8:47 a.m.
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soside4life, at worst, what momof15 and I said was borderline and without bad intent.
It's natural to think about how someone could live to be 107-years-old. Good genes are always a certainty, but the variables like diet and exercise are always a matter of interest. Good luck, too, is a factor.
And, what a 100-year-old-plus person lived through and remembers is alway intriging.
My jibes about the Packers and the Bears on other blogs might be over the line toward being caustic, but I'm working on it.
Jan 15, 2008 at 7:22 a.m.
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soside4life: it was a joke! did you read gazettefan's (or their post under the NFC title game) post a little further down about her secret to a long life being about beer... it was all in good fun. Sorry you didn't see that. ANYHOW...Happy 107th Birthhday, Lillian!!
Jan 15, 2008 at 2:08 a.m.
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Seems you, momof5, are as bad as some of those you've called out...ex: "ENSVL HW" (Although it seems she has "toned" it down a bit...)
Jan 15, 2008 at 2:05 a.m.
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HAPPY B-DAY, LILLIAN! YOU ROCK, GIRL! :)
(Sorry about this <re: To "Rain on Lillian's Parade" :) > , BUT......
*Honestly, momof5, Here's your "halo" :o.... (YOU are perfect...., WAY TO GO!) And NOW & with "prentices"..."STOP ALL YOUR LITTLE SNIDE COMMENTS"....SERIOUSLY! (I cannot even BELIEVE you would state them here!!!)
Jan 14, 2008 at 7:02 p.m.
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Its wierd how some people live such long lives and others don't. My grandfather didn't even make it to 70. lillian, HAPPY BIRTHDAY!
Jan 14, 2008 at 5:52 p.m.
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Yes, happy birthday to Lillian.
Lillian can remember things from a hundred years ago and I can't find my keys!
She could have actually seen the Cubs win a World Series.
Jan 14, 2008 at 5:44 p.m.
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or, gazettefan, if Lillian had said the secret to a long happy life was NOT being a Bears fan (and drinking beer perhaps). Congrats to Lillian and her entire family! To think this woman has lived through most things we read about in history books! Amazing!
Jan 14, 2008 at 4:22 p.m.
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Happy Birthday, Ms. Lillian!
Thank you for sharing your stories!
Jan 14, 2008 at 4:19 p.m.
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HAPPY BIRTHDAY LILLIAN and God Bless You!! How wonderful of you to share your stories and life with all of us and giving others the opportunity to share their rememberances of life with you as well.
Jan 14, 2008 at 1:49 p.m.
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Happy Birthday Lillian, I have know her for many many years, was a good friend of her son. At the start of WW II her son Paul and I collected all the waste paper from the school rooms, Lillian and George had a paper baler so we baled up the paper and Lillian would drive us to Janesville and give paper to the scrap drive. Gas was rationed as well as tires etc the speed limit was 35 and everyone did their part, there were many other happy times at the Greenmans also, like dinner, going to the farm where Lillians parents lived for dinner. Thanks for the memoires Lillian.
Jan 14, 2008 at 1:16 p.m.
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What an amazing life!
Thank you Lillian for such fabulous stories! You are one of Janesville's greatest treasures.
HAPPY BIRTHDAY! You look fabulous!
Jan 14, 2008 at 12:12 p.m.
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happy birthday lillian, what a refreshing story!! may god bless you with many more memories!!
Jan 14, 2008 at 11:20 a.m.
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HAPPY BIRTHDAY LILLIAN
MAY YOU HAVE MANY MORE!!!!YOU LOOK GREAT!!!
HAVE A WONDERFUL DAY!!
Jan 14, 2008 at 10:21 a.m.
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Happy Birthday Lillian! My dad was born in 1902 and raised on a farm outside of Footville so I loved hearing your reminisces. May you have many more birthdays and stories!
Jan 14, 2008 at 10 a.m.
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It would have made my day if Lillian had said that the secret to a long life was drinking lots of beer!!!
Jan 14, 2008 at 9:56 a.m.
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Happy Birthday Lillian!! May you have many more!!
Jan 14, 2008 at 9:17 a.m.
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Happy birthday Lillian!
A delightful story, thank for sharing it with us readers.
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